Chapter 21

A/N: Christmas party time! Enjoy!

A week passed and the Shinsengumi's Christmas party was finally here!

The cabaret was being prepped for the party by the Shinsengumi while Matsudaira supervised.

"Okay minna! Keep working, we have until five tonight," the police commissioner directed as his subordinates glam the place up.

Yamazaki could be seen hanging mistletoe while Tetsu was helping Takeda and Sugihara, who were putting garland up. Niki and his former 9th division spent time helping with the Christmas tree while the former 5th division helped their captain with the garland. Oka, Todo and Inoue, along with their men, were busy doing multiple errands from helping in the kitchen to hiding anonymous gifts all throughout the cabaret. Shinohara and Yoshimura were helping Oryou, Hanako and Ane with the cleaning.

"Dammit. this is is tiring," the former fukuchou complained as he supervised on of his many tasks: keeping the rest of the former divisions in line as they decorated.

Hijikata was exhausted since he had to discipline some of the men slacking, along with dodging Okita's bazooka. Since the two became lovers, the mayo addict had been working until he was exhausted and avoiding halfhearted attacks only to be ravished by his younger lover through the night.

'Damn Sougo, he tires me out with killing attempts during the day so no one suspects but he's merciless!' Hijikata thought as he continued to supervise his subordinates.

While the older man was preoccupied at his task, the younger man watched him inconspicuously from afar.

A blast from his bazooka nearly stopped everyone as the former fukuchou swiftly dodged.

"Sougo!" rang through the building from Hijikata as he turned to glare daggers at Okita.

As he stalked over to his comrade, the sadist asked in his usual bored tone, "Hijikata-san, you moved. Too bad."

Flustered, he responded, "Sougo, stop this crap! Get back to work! We only have a few hours left so stop this."

The former captain's face seemed to flicker with a frown that betrayed his emotions for just a second but fled.

The mayo samurai briefly clears his throat and whispers, "Sorry, just don't make a scene okay? We can talk later."

Okita shrugged as his normal sadist's smile was back and he replied nonchalantly, "Ah, you are such a fun sucker. Whatever, I'm going to go find something to do then. Bye!"

While those two had been arguing, Harada and Nagakura observed and whispered among themselves.

"Is something off with them? Okita-san and Hijikata-san I mean," Nagakura brought up all of a sudden.

Harada pondered before answering, "Hm, you have a point. He seemed really mad at first like normal but...what happened?"

"It looked like he reacted to something with Okita-san, almost like he saw he was getting upset and-" the former 10th division captain was saying before the former 2nd division captain interrupted.

"He was comforting Okita-san! It's a bit odd but those two and Kondou-san did all meet before forming the Shinsengumi originally. They've probably known each other and developed a friendship despite how they may act."

Suddenly a grin formed on Harada's face that confused his comrade.

"I just thought of a great idea, let's set up a betting pool. We can get the others in on it when those two aren't around."

Nagakura timidly questioned, "One or both of them could just be sick or something, we all get pretty stressed. Hijikata-san is famous for being stressed after all."

Rolling his eyes first at his friend, he then said, "Fine we'll include it in the pool."

Darting his eyes, the former 2nd division captain reluctantly agreed before they went back to their tasks.

Unknown to them, Shimaru had been cleaning a bit near them and he'd heard what they were discussing. Silently, he watched them as the former 3rd division captain went about his work.

By four o'clock, Hijikata and Okita had left to pick up a couple of guests.

"Psst! Everyone come here," Harada said, in a low voice so the commissioner wouldn't hear.

Except for Tetsu, Yamazaki and Shimaru, most of the Shinsegumi's former officers gathered around two of their former captains. They all feverishly whispered about Hijikata and Okita while the three others listened, wondering what was going on.

While they were conspiring there, Hijikata and Okita were on their way to the train station to pick up the sister of the late Shige Shige.

"So Hijikata-san..." the young former captain began as he discreetly laid his hand onto his superior's hand.

He glanced briefly at his lover's action as he replied, "What now? We have to pick up Soyo-dono."

Okita answered,"I was just wondering, what should I call you when we're alone? I can't really call you Hijikata-san like I'm still at work. Toshi maybe?"

"No, Kondou-san calls me that. It'd be too weird," Hijikata responded, "Maybe you could just call me Toshirou, it is my name."

The sadist pondered it before he said, "Toshirou? Okay Toshirou."

At that, he squeezed his lover's hand as he drove on towards the station. The mayo fiend blushed slightly but squeezed back.

"Okay, let's go now," Hijikata announced as they arrived at the train station and got out of the squad car.

Both men walked around until they found the train coming in from Kyoto. As they waited, the sadistic former captain attempted to either kill him or just frustrate him until he ran out of patience.

When the train pulled in, a familiar voice yelled out the window, "Okita-san, Hijikata-san!"

The two said men brightened at her voice and shouted back, "Soyo-dono/Soyo-chan!"

She got off the train and enveloped the two police officers into a hug.

"Hello, I've missed you since I was in Edo last," the former princess said as she reveled in seeing her friends again.

The young woman stood there happily in a simple pink and yellow kimono and simple brown sandals, they could hardly believe this was the same young fourteen year old from back then. She was eighteen now and a beautiful woman, her brother would have been so proud.

` They chatted for a bit while Soyo's bags were gathered. That was when Nobume appeared from the train and came to stand by Soyo so fast that Hijikata had to blink for a second.

"Nobume? What are you doing here?" Okita asked curiously as he noticed her appearance was quite like what she'd taken to wearing ever since Sasaki had died.

She looked at him and gave a small smile as she replied, "Hello Killer, how's Edo?"

"It's good, some parts are...better. How's Kyoto?" the sadist questioned back.

Soyo interjected cheerfully, "Kyoto is great actually! It's not Edo but it has it's own charm. Jii-chan is taking care of my shop while we're here for the party!"

The two men nodded at the mention of the man, remembering him. It'd been a while since they had actually seen him in person, Rotten Maizou could at least rest for the most part now as he helped Soyo out. Hijikata insisted on placing her luggage into the trunk while Okita opened her door as the young woman and her bodyguard got into the back of the car, before getting back into the driver's seat.

Before the former fukuchou could get back inside, the sadist teased him by trying to drive off without off while Hijikata screamed in anger, "Sougo!"

"Just kidding Hijikata-san, get in," Okita said with a chuckle as he opened the passenger side door for him.

Scowling, the mayo samurai muttered under his breath, "Damn sadist..." as he climbed in.

He lit a cigarette and smoked it as the younger man rolled his eyes as he began to drive back to cabaret.

"So Okita-san, how have you all been at the Shinsengumi?" Soyo asked as she got more excited.

As the man in question responded, Hijikata breathed the smoke out. For some reason, he felt that something was off though he couldn't put his finger on it.

While the group was still on their own, since Matsudaira had gotten distracted by his daughter's boyfriend so they'd taken bets from all willing participants.

"Hey, where's Tot-san? And why aren't you getting ready?" Hijikata demanded as he arrived with Okita, Nobume and Soyo in tow.

Nervously gulping, many didn't know how to respond so Yamazaki spoke up, "We're almost done fukuchou. Matsudaira-san went to talk to his daughter is all."

Raising an eyebrow slightly, the mayo addict replied, "Alright then, finish up. It's sounds like Tot-san."

A wave of relief washed over as the Shinsengumi members dispersed to take care of the finishing touches.

During the day, many were preparing for the party. Otose had Catherine and Tama help her lock up the Snack Bar before they got dressed and headed out. The whole Yorozuya plus Umibozou and Kamui were getting ready as well. All of the people in Kabuki-chou and Yoshiwara were preparing for the big Christmas party.

By five o'clock, all of the Shinsengumi were awaiting their guests and the Yorozuya were the first to arrive.

"Hey Jimi, are you on door detail?" Gin teased as he snickered a bit.

Gin had on his usual kimono ensemble but was wearing a bow-tie and had actually shined his boots, he couldn't leave his sword home though.

He frowned as he answered, "Danna, it's only until everyone gets here. It shouldn't be long."

Most of the Shinsengumi were wearing formal suits but some had chosen specific ties, the anpan lover had anpans all over his own tie.

"Hello Yamazaki-san, don't worry about it. Gin-san is just excited so he's acting weird," Shinpachi assured his friend.

The megane had chosen to wear a more formal kimono that looked similar to his usual one but it was a much darker blue and a paler white on the sleeves and stripes.

Yamazaki smiled and nodded as Kagura stuck her tongue out at the spy. Kagura was quite different from her usual attire as she was wearing a gold and white Chinese style dress that looked more like her normal dress with sleeves, it also had a golden rabbit with a pole on the back and her hair glided down the back of it. As they went inside, more came behind them from Otae, Catherine and Tama to Kyuubei and Tojo to others like Tetsuko and others like that. until everyone filled the building by six o'clock.

Inside, Kondou greeted his boss as he shook his hand, "Thanks Tot-san, it's great to have everyone together before Christmas."

"It's no problem as all Kondou, I love a chance to party and spend it with my friends!" the older man replied enthusiastically.

"Oh, right! Sougo said that his gift to all of us was not to attack us his sword or bazooka or any deadly weapon during the party," the Gorilla man added as if it was normal, which earned him some odd looks.

While those two chatted, Otae spoke to Otsuu and Shinpachi.

"So how is your father Otsuu-chan? You and your mother are okay I hope?" she asked in friendly concern.

The idol smiled and answered, "My father is doing well, my mother and I are going to visit him the morning before my Christmas concert. Thank you for asking Otae-chan-domestic violence!"

Otae smiled as she replied, "I'm glad, I can't wait to see you and Shinpachi on Christmas. Isao-kun and I are definitely going too!"

Kondou's wife was wearing a dark pink kimono with pale yellow flowers all over it with a dark purple obi and black sandals. Her hair was in an up-do similar to the beginning chapters of the manga.

"That's great Ane-ue, this party is nice," the otaku commented.

While those three chatted, Gin, Kagura, Kamui and Umibozou hung near the buffet.

"So Gin, this seems nice. Those cops really threw this?" the alien hunter asked as he helped himself to some hor d'oeuvres.

Umibozou was wearing a nice Chinese style shirt and pants, both colored a dark green but the shirt was lighter. The cuffs of the sleeves and pants were golden as the collar was. Kamui had on something similar but his shirt was red and the pants were white, he had on black boots like his father but had been forced to clean them up by his sister as had his father.

He shrugged in response as the sweets samurai ate some of the food too.

Kagura rolled her eyes at Gin and said, "It is Papi, they did a great job! Are you enjoying yourself Kamui?"

"I guess, I'm just sticking to the food. Thanks little sis, I'm glad you had me come," the young Yato man said to his little sister with a small smile.

She grinned warmly and responded, "Well, that's my only Christmas wish! I just want to spend it with all of my loved ones!"

Gin smiled at Kagura after he'd gotten more food and told her, "That's a good wish, same here. I'm happy to be here too with everyone, even if I always tease everyone a lot."

A/N: Well, here's the beginning of the party. There's much more party to enjoy so stay tuned, you'll have a lot to look forward to! Ja ne! *I hate to have to give some bad news but I need to put the story on hiatus. Long story short, a bad smell I live with basically screwed my family over by squandering the money he gets and usually pays much of the bills with is gone because he was stupid enough to give hackers information to get into his bank account to supposedly 'reimburse' him money from a 'Windows' scam among other things. In other words, he's as dumb as a rock and we suffer for it by losing a lot of money so we can't pay for the internet sadly. I only have it until the 20th this month and I don't know when I'll get it back. I'll try to keep some kind of update through the library but I don't think I can update the story there with it on a flash drive since they frowned upon floppy drives in the stone age I was in before. I'm still writing and typing it so don't fear for it, when I do get the internet back my story will be back along with it's sequel! Please be patient and hopefully this chapter will whet your appetite and keep you excited for more. Thank you for your patience and continued support! I'll see you soon hopefully!